Crow Canyon Systems,
Inc.
support@crowcanyon.com
General Utilities
CCS Service Request provides a toolbox of
Utilities in the General Utilities folder. These set many aspects of the
program. Details about each one can be found in the corresponding section.
List Manager has many features and options.
These are explained below.
The first page shows various lists, custom
fields, priority, and other features. Also, there is a “Change Category/Type”
button near the top that change the page to the lists for Category and Type.
Features
of List Manager:
Change
Category/Type Lists
button – this changes the page to the lists for Category and Type. See section
below
about this.
“Computer” and “OS” boxes – either of these
can be TextBoxes or ComboBoxes. If both are ComboBoxes, they can be linked such
that the selection in the first determines the list that is shown in the
second. The linking is done by a checkbox under the boxes. The labels for
Computer and OS can be changed simply by typing over them.
Priority
box
– the selections for Priority are listed here. They are mapped to the three
standard “importance” values in Outlook forms – High, Normal, Low. Each of
these has a different icon associated with it – High has the red exclamation
point, Normal has nothing, and Low has the blue down arrow. We offer a broader
selection of Priorities so that tickets can be classified better.
Also, each Priority can be mapped to a
Response Due and Due Date, but adding in the values in parentheses as described
in the Priority box. The Due Date can be tied to the time of Ticket Submission
or Ticket Assignment by setting the option in this box:
“Auto
complete ticket when deny” – when a ticket requires approval, but that approval is
denied, the tickets can be set to automatically complete upon the denial.
“Project
Code”
– This set the list of Projects in the drop-down on the Ticket forms. The box
to the right counts up how many times that project has been used. It will
increment the number for that project when a project is selected on the ticket.
In this way, the same project name can be used over and over, but the different
projects will be identified by the number, such as “Upgrade 1”, “Upgrade 2”,
etc. The project numbering increments automatically.
“Status
List”
– sets the list of Statuses on the ticket. Note that this field is actually
called Ticket Status, so when trying to display in the folder view, use Ticket
Status field, not the standard Status field. The standard Status field only
allows the five pre-set Statues (in the greyed out box), so it cannot provide
the granularity needed for setting the statuses of the tickets.
“Cause
of Problem”
– sets the list of “Cause” on the Assigned Ticket
“Custom
Fields” –
this gives the option of setting the titles, type of box, and contents (if a
combo box) for each of the four custom fields. To change the labels, simply
type over them (where it says Field1, Field2, etc.). Choose either TextBox of
ComboBox. If ComboBox, enter in the list of entries for that box. A Default
choose can be designated by placing an asterisk after the entry.
Any of these boxes can be hidden on the
tickets and in update messages using the Field Manager Utility.
To modify Category and Type, press the Change
Category/Type button.
These two lists can be Linked or Unlinked using
the radio button at the top. In either Linked or Unlinked mode, any of the
Types can be set to require Approval.
Linked:
When linked, the list of Types changes according
to the Category that is chosen. For instance, a Category might be Email and the
Types might be “Address Book”, “Can’t Send/Receive”, etc. and another Category
might be Network and the Types might be “Drive mapping”, “Logon Problems”.
To set this up, enter items in the Category
list (each on its own line), then use the “First Select Category” drop-down
list under “Type” to select a Category. Enter the Types for that Category. Change
to another Category using the drop-down list and modify the Type list there
accordingly. Enter Types each on its own line.
Unlinked:
When unlinked, the Category and Type lists operate
independently. This might be used if the Types are more general and y linkage
between the two lists is not necessary.
Approval:
To designate a Type as Approval, add {A} at
the end of the Type name. For example, a Category of Hardware Request might
have a Type list like this, where Desktop and Laptop require approval (the
person filling out the ticket designates who the Approver is):
Desktop{A}
Keyboard
Laptop{A}
Monitor
Printer
Other
Approver Name can be added
A name can be added
to the {A} designation by putting the a colon and the person’s name, as in
{A:Antonio Mendez}, and this name will show up in the Approver box when that
Type is selected.
The Data Link utility determines whether the
Data tab on the Assigned Ticket shows or not. This would usually be set to
“Show” in a Computer Help Desk-oriented Service Area because the fields on the
Data tab are useful in Computer support even if not connected to an Asset
database.
Assigned Ticket “Data” tab:
If the Data tab is not needed, simply uncheck
the “Show Data tab” box. Note that “Computer” and “OS” are on the General tab
of the Assigned Ticket and are therefore visible even if the Data tab is set to
not show. The other fields are only on this tab.
The “Data tab is linked to Data Source” on
the Data Link utility is set to “Yes” only if the program will connect with
Network Inventory or another asset database. The Network Inventory connection
is built-in and simply has to be chosen from that Data Source list to activate.
(Network Inventory is tool we sell as a separate purchase. It can be used alone
or it can connect with the Service Request system through the configuration on
this Data Link utility).
Linkage to other asset tracking databases
requires custom programming from us, in which case we would add the database to
the Data Source list.
CCS Service Request can create Appointments
from the Assigned Tickets using the “Create Appt” button in the lower left part
of the ticket on the General tab. This Appointment can go into a private
(personal) Calendar or a designated Calendar in the Public Folders.
The Set Calendar Folder determines which
Calendar is used.
The use of the Calendar is an optional
function. It provides a way for scheduling time with users or customers from
the Assigned Ticket. Details of the ticket are passed to the new Appointment,
and both the End User on the ticket and the person pressing the “Create Appt”
button are added as Attendees on the Appointment.
The Action Launcher allows you to set up
“actions” that can be taken directly from the Assigned Ticket. These include
launching a program or a web site.
A powerful addition is that fields on the
ticket can be used as parameters in the action code. This means, for example,
that a field on the ticket such as Employee ID can be appended to a URL and
then that would launch a web page that brings up the Employee details, if your
HR software allows that kind of query.
The fields that can be used as parameters are
listed on the Field Manager Utility, on the Assigned Ticket screen, in
the “PlaceHolders” column there.
New Actions are created with the “Add New
Action” button. This brings up the box. “Edit” allows editing of an existing
Action and “Remove” deletes an Action. Highlight which Action to Edit or Remove
in the radio button next to it.
The Action Name is what shows in the Action
List in this utility and on the Assigned Ticket.
The Action Description is what the actual
action is. This can be a URL or an EXE. Fields from the ticket can be added as
parameters to the Action Descriptoin.
Action Type is either “Launch Web URL” or
“Launch EXE”.
Launch Web URL:
Launch EXE:
Actions are listed on the Assigned Ticket.
One is selected, then the green arrow is pushed to launch the Action.
“Billing Rate” and “Cost: are fields on the
Details tab of the Assigned Ticket.
The contents of the Billing Rate drop-list
are set by the Billing Module utility, as shown below.
The Billing Module utility has a checkbox to
set whether “Cost” is calculated based on Billing Rate and Total Work. If
checked, the Cost is calculated as follows:
The Cost equals the Billing Rate times the
Total Work, as modified by the Billing Increment.
The Field Manager Utility has three tabs. See
the selections in the SHOW section of the ribbon (Outlook 2007) – highlighted
in the red rectangle below. Each tab represents a different page that is
displayed to users and Named Seats. The required and hidden fields must be set
on each tab individually. This means some fields can be hidden for end users,
but not for Named Seats. Or some can be required for end users and not for
Named Seats. Be sure to make the selections on each tab where there are
required or hidden fields.
Submit
Page
– the page the End Users get when they create a new Ticket
Assign
Page
– the page Named Seats get when they open a newly created Ticket
Assigned
Ticket
– the ticket page after the Ticket is assigned and in the Assigned Tickets folder.
Submit
Page screen
Check the fields that are required when a
user submits a ticket. Check any fields that should be hidden to the end user.
BE SURE NOT TO MAKE A FIELD BOTH REQUIRED AND HIDDEN, as the user would never
be able to fill it in, of course. Some fields, such as Name, Email, and
Category cannot be hidden. Also, the Summary is always required and cannot be
hidden.
Assign
Page screen
– this is the unassigned Ticket that the Named Seats see:
The same logic as for the Submit Page
applies. These fields are what are required before a ticket can be assigned.
The hidden fields will not show on the page that the Named Seat sees when
assigning a ticket. As above, do not make a field both required and hidden.
Assigned
Ticket screen
The same logic as for the other pages
applies. These fields are what are required before a ticket can be completed.
The hidden fields will not show on the Assigned Ticket. As above, do not make a
field both required and hidden.
This
screen has several other options:
Color
Changes:
Using the Red, Green and Blue boxes under Foreground and Background in the
upper right, the colors of the tickets can be changed. Once saved, this color
scheme will be used on all Tickets, Assigned Tickets, and Knowledge Base
articles.
Pre-set
Color Themes:
The utility includes several pre-set color themes, for example, the “Country”
color theme.
Label
Change:
The label at the top “Service Request” can be typed over to change the title on
all the tickets and assigned tickets in the main folders. This allows you to
set the title of the tickets according to what works best at your site.
Additional
Contact label can be typed over to change this label on the tickets. For instance,
“Manager” or “Cust. Service Rep” might be more appropriate in some cases.
Pre-fill
Computer/device:
The box in the lower right sets whether the computer name is automatically
filled in on a new ticket. The name is pulled from the registry of the computer
that is being used to fill out the ticket. This name goes into the Computer
field or what is more generally called “SA Field1” (see List Manager for more
information).
The Popup Message utility in the General Utilities
folder allows you to set up messages that end users will see when they open a
new Ticket. (Named Seats do not get this message.) This can be an informational notice (“Network
down 10 pm – 1 am tonight”) or a Yes/No box (“We are aware the Internet is
down. Do you still want to fill out a ticket?”). A message can easily be turned
on and off with the Message On checkbox and the Message number radio
button.
Other boxes allow you to set the Message
Title and the Message Text. Up to three
messages can be preconfigured. However, only one can be displayed at a time.
The Pop-up Message is displayed during the
creation of new Tickets by end users only. It shows to end users when creating
a new ticket in Outlook and in the Web pages. It does not show when Named Seats
create tickets.